2005 Easton Zinfandel, Fiddletown (Rinaldi-Eschen Vineyard)
These old vines barely provide a crop each year. The vineyard is about as old as they come in California with vines dating to the original planting in 1865. When you gaze on the vineyard on a cold Spring day after the vines have been pruned, the thousands of stout, thickly trunked vines are not unlike a amorphous Henry Moore sculpture, arms raised, pleading with the heavens for enough water to grow for another year. This vineyard is farmed with simplicity: pruning, plowing, and finally picking at the perfect time determined by our winemaker. Every year the wines are different and a revelation. We do not blend this wine with other Zinfandels in our cellar to make a consistent product. EASTON Fiddletown Zinfandel is always 100% Zinfandel from the Rinaldi-Eschen Vineyard. We approach making the wine from this vineyard in much the same way a good winemaker would approach a Grand Cru vineyard in Burgundy. We want to reveal what the fruit has to offer each year in all of its’ purity; not obscure it. This 2005 has thick brambly blackberry fruit with pepper, anise, clove, and other exotic spices. Yields were an incredibly low 1/2 - 1 ton to the acre. Harvest was on October 17th. Fat and mouthfilling with great persistence on the palate. Like all our EASTON Zinfandels, this wine was aged in exclusively French oak. The 2005 vintage will hold well for 5-10 years.
14.5% by volume; 3.50 pH; 7.0 gm./liter total acidity
Suggested Retail: $28.00 a bottle